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John Wagner
National journalist heads the political press team at The Post newspaper
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), Said Tuesday that his panel would submit to the Department of Justice a case of false testimony by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of the Private military contractor Blackwater and an ally of the president. Asset.
"The evidence is so heavy that the Justice Department must take it into account," Schiff said at a Washington Post Live event.
Schiff spoke of a meeting that took place nine days before Trump took office between Prince and a Russian financier close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Seychelles.
[Congressional Democrats examine Erik Prince’s statements on 2017 Seychelles meeting for possible perjury]
Prince then told congressional officials who were examining Russia's interference in the presidential election that the meeting had happened by chance and had not taken place at the request of the new government – a testimony that the Democrats of the Congress now think to be wrong.
Prince told investigators of Special Advocate Robert S. Mueller III a version of the Seychelles meeting contradicting in several respects his sworn testimony before the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives in November 2017.
"We know from the Mueller report that it was not a chance meeting," Schiff told Robert Post reporter Robert Costa during an interview for the event. . "We know that there have been communications after his return."
"In a very material way, I think the evidence strongly suggests that he has deliberately misled our committee and that the Justice Department must determine if there is a potential cause for prosecution," Schiff added. .
At this point, neither the Senate nor the House's intelligence committees know the details of the relationship between Prince and Mueller – and if he has an agreement that could protect him from prosecution.
Schiff noted Tuesday that if Prince gave information to the special advocate team, "provided that it is not used against him, then be able to prove" that he lied to legislators "could be problematic".
"In a very material way, I think that the evidence strongly suggests that he deliberately misled our committee and that the Department of Justice must determine whether there is a cause likely to be the subject of prosecution. "
Congressional Democrats also examine whether Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. lied to them in their congressional panel interviews.
The information contained in Mueller's report corroborated the concern of many Democrats that Trump Jr. would have lied to them about the details of the June 2016 meeting that he and other members of the Trump campaign would have taken place with a Russian lawyer promising to "dirty" Clinton and seeking to discuss sanctions against Russia with the campaign.
The report also raised new concerns, including House investigators, among others, that Kushner misled lawmakers about contacts his partner Rick Gerson had had prior to the inauguration with the Banker Dmitriev, who had met Prince in the Seychelles.
But Democrats are reluctant to launch official accusations against Kushner and Trump Jr. until they are able to see the contents of the redactions in Mueller's report, as well as to see the transcript of interviews that The special advocate had with these witnesses, in order to determine whether they lied to the lawmakers.
Asked more specifically about Kushner and Trump Jr. on Tuesday, Schiff disagreed, saying he would not comment on these individuals.
"We have reached the stage of maturity with the testimony of Erik Prince that we believe it is appropriate to send him back," he added.
Shane Harris contributed to this report.
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